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Wednesday 11 October and one of the most
surprising hit programmes of the past few years made its
scheduled weekly BBC1 appearance. Who Do You Think You Are
(Walt-to-Wall Productions) is now into its third series
and has taken many famous celebrities back into their pasts to
trace family trees, with some of those trips ending in
not-so-salubrious outcomes! The first series was BBC2’s highest rated series of 2004 and one of the most critically acclaimed television productions of that year. The ratings continued to climb for the second series and in fact, so successful were those first two BBC2 series that it was moved to BBC1. Among the celebrities whose pasts have been "dug" into have been Barbara Windsor, Robert Lindsay, former Olympic runner Colin Jackson, David Dickinson, Jeremy Irons and many others. But that second Wednesday in October caused numerous Dial-a-Cab drivers to phone Call Sign. Why? Because the subject, Nigella Lawson, was being driven around town in what appeared to be several different taxis – but all of them on Dial-a-Cab with the logo continually being shown going across the screen! Each time she left the cab, she was shown paying the driver – and always £10. Could it be that it was the same cab throughout? Only one of the taxis showed a registration and that belonged to DaC’s car winner from the last time that prize was given as an incentive in 2001, Peter Bond (L67). |
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, PETER…! |
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 Peter Bond |
 Nigella Lawson |
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"Yes," Peter told Call Sign
after the program, "it was me throughout the program! Whilst everything that happens to the celebrity is genuine, just using me was done for two reasons. The first was that as it was filmed in July and tearing busy, so the production crew didn’t want to waste time looking for cabs and secondly, because a lot of time was spent in the cab and the weather was very hot, they wanted a taxi with air-conditioning in the back. So yes, the £10 fare shown was always the same banknote to the same driver!" Peter went on: "I know that Nigella Lawson uses DaC quite often, but I didn’t get the job through the system. A friend of mine heard about Wall-to-Wall looking for a cab with air-con that would be available for up to two weeks filming and recommended me. In fact the job lasted exactly two weeks and I was paid by the hour." So what was Nigella Lawson like? "She was just so nice as were all her family who I met briefly, |
including her husband Charles Saachi. By the end of the second week, she felt like a friend and made the job so enjoyable!" The fascinating program told of her connection to the J.Lyons family of caterers through her mother (Vanessa Salmon) and amongst much more, told the story of the Regent Palace Hotel when it was also known as Lyons Corner House where a dinner-suited orchestra would serenade you whilst your family tucked into their 7s.6d (38p) salad served by waitresses -famously known as Nippies! Sadly, prices have gone up since the 1950s and J.Lyons & Co are no more. As for Nigella, she is the daughter of politician Nigel Lawson and as a journalist, has achieved huge international success with cookery writing and television presenting. She has presented three of her own TV cookery series, including two series of Nigella Bites and Forever Summer with Nigella. Accompanying recipe books are available for both from the BBC shop. |
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REGENT STREET XMAS LIGHTS SWITCH-ON |
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The Regent Street Association have told
Call Sign that the Dreamworks / Aardman feature
movie "Flushed Away" is sponsoring their Christmas light
spectacular for 2006 with the lights depicting characters
from the new film, which features the voices of film stars
Kate Winslet, Ian Mckellen, Hugh Jackman and many other
famous celebrities. The switch-on takes place on Tuesday 7 November and will be done by three of the actors who "voice" the characters - Ian Mckellen (Toad), Andy Serkis (Spike) and Eastenders star Shane Richie (Sid) at the flagship store of the British luxury fashion label, Aquascutum and of course marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Flushed Away tells the story of a pampered pet mouse who is flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment in the West End, beneath the streets of London and from where he has to learn a whole new way of life. In recent years, over 40 new shops and restaurants have opened on Regent Street including Brooks Brothers, Timberland, Kurt Geiger, Quiksilver, Penhaligons, Apple, Ted Baker, Hobbs, |
 Last
years Xmas lights at Regent Street
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